


You Make My Colors Brighter

by Lohksparce



Series: A Guardian and a Dreg Walk Into a Bar [3]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Fluff, Gaia-1 (Original Character) - Freeform, M/M, Meeksis (Original Character) - Freeform, Romance, hand-holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:20:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23589046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lohksparce/pseuds/Lohksparce
Summary: After the encounter in the nightclub, Gaia-1 and Meeksis keep meeting. The Dreg decides to take a chance and show Gaia-1 something important to him.
Relationships: Male Guardian/Original Fallen | Eliksni Character(s)
Series: A Guardian and a Dreg Walk Into a Bar [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695205
Kudos: 35





	You Make My Colors Brighter

He and Meeksis had kept meeting.

After his patrols or bounties were done, he would find himself on the Tangled Shore again, sneaking down into the metal bunker that held the nightclub. The Fighting Pit in the bottom was no more thanks to him, but the club itself still ran, thankfully. But each time he went down through the vibrating halls, Meeksis would be waiting for him. Sometimes they sat at the entrance against the window and metal-half walls, and other times they found a comfortable, secluded nook to share donut holes down one of the halls.

Every minute spent with Meeksis was delightful.

Gaia-1 knew the Vanguard would disapprove. Traveler, everyone in the city would disapprove, especially Saint-14 and his hatred for the Fallen, particularly Dregs, but he didn't care. Meeksis was wonderful. He would never betray the City, the Vanguard, or any of his friends, but he was going to meet him as many times as he wanted.

He wanted it enough that he was at the Tangled Shore yet again, boots pounding on the earth and metal as he made his way to the nightclub. A sparrow would've been quicker, but he didn't want to make too much noise and get a gang of Fallen on his heels, or end up attracting a passing Guardian who needed an extra for their fireteam.

Gaia-1 crouched behind a rounded hunk of metal, peering about. Thankfully, night time in the shore meant most of the asteroids were quiet. Everyone was either sleeping or down in a bar or club somewhere, and not looking for anything more than a bar fight if you kept out of the Hive nests or lost sectors. He looked towards the entrance to the club, and a familiar Dreg stood out among the dim, lantern-illuminated metal walls and junk strewn about haphazardly. The Exo grinned, and crept out from behind the rock before breaking into a run. He reached the entrance and skidded to a stop in front of the Dreg.

"Hi, Meeksis," Gaia-1 smiled. "How are you?"

"I am good, eia. Was inside, listening to music, but had idea. So wait here," Meeksis answered with a chirp, ducking his head a little, trying not to fidget his hands too much. "Club too busy. Not safe. You come with me, yes? Show you place. "

There was a brief moment of hesitation in Gaia-1's mind, a nagging that told him to decline.

He pushed it away.

"Sure," Gaia-1 nodded. "Lead the way."

Meeksis smiled a little, mandibles parting briefly. There was a slight pause before he reached out and took Gaia-1's hand, pulling him down the nearby stairs. Gaia-1 gasped, but he just hurried after the Dreg, offering no resistance. Normally he would never be so forward, even with his fellow Dregs, but he knew Gaia wouldn't hurt him, and he was far too excited to slow down. His heart threatened to burst from his chest even. Would Gaia-1 like his secret place? Would he find it as pretty as he did? Was he making a mistake?

No one had ever seen his secret place before. It was secret for a reason.

Eliksni were supposed to be enemies of humanity. Maybe some of them engaged in more 'human' things like the music in the nightclub, or alcohols in the Shore's bars or from things they stole, but too much was frowned upon. As a Dreg, having one's own personal things was frowned upon too. But Gaia was Gaia. Not a Captain. Not a Kell. Not someone who would dock him. As if on cue, his half-grown arm stumps twitched. Three dockings. Three too many.

Meeksis lead him across Thieves' Landing and into one of the circular bunkers that dotted the normally hectic area of the Shore. In one corner of the room, a handful of crates sat silently, managing to be dusty despite the patchwork tarp covering them.

"Here, we move this. Quiet," Meeksis whispered, letting go of Gaia-1's hand.

"Quiet." Gaia-1 repeated, nodding. He didn't say it, but he wanted to hold the Dreg's hand again.

Gaia-1 followed Meeksis' lead, and they pushed the crates against the nearest wall. They paused and peeked out of the round exits: no one around still. Meeksis breathed a little sigh of relief. The Exo blinked, watching curiously as the Dreg took out his shock dagger and pried one of the metal flooring panels up. Gaia-1 stared down into the hole of empty earth, optics illuminating the faint foot and hand prints in the dirt. Traveler knows the Shore had tunnels and carved out sections all across its rocky plains, but he hadn't expected one to run under near Thieves' Landing. Gaia-1 swallowed a little.

Good thing he never threw grenades around in the buildings.

"Come, follow." Meeksis said, holstering his dagger before crawling into the exposed tunnel.

Gaia-1 blinked a few times, looking at the cramped, earthen walls. "Uh... I don't think I'm gonna fit through there in this armor."

Meeksis' head tilted and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Shoulders too big." He stated after he gave Gaia-1 a once-over.

Gaia-1 nodded in agreement. For the first time, his wonderful massive pauldrons had failed him.

The Exo quickly switched his Scatterhorn armor to a much more streamlined set of Substitutional Alloy armor. It wasn't his favorite look, but it would let him fit through the tunnel, hopefully. Meeksis crawled further into the tunnel, and Gaia-1 followed him down. To his relief, his other armor didn't leave him caught between a rock and a hard place. He pulled the panel back over the hole, and darkness engulfed them.

Gaia-1's orange optics cast their eternal glow onto the rocks. Meeksis squatted down, stomach nearly touching the dirt.

"All is well?" Meeksis asked quietly.

Gaia-1 stared at the Dreg's face, and he couldn't find words. In the darkness, the brilliant blue of the Eliksni's eyes was even more dazzling. They were blue jewels, more beautiful than even the bluest blue sky.

"Y-Yeah, all's well," Gaia-1 smiled, reactor humming up a storm inside him and he wondered if Meeksis could hear.

"Come, come, then. Show you my secret." Meeksis chittered, and he smiled back even more.

Meeksis turned and crawled further in, and Gaia-1 followed him as quickly as he could. The Dreg lead him down the tunnel, around jagged corners and past patches of crusty grass, and Gaia-1 was thankful for his eyesight. Up ahead of Meeksis, little shafts of purple-ish blue light began to peek through and greet them through hundred year old holes in the rock. The tunnel's exit opened up, and Meeksis was there, squatting with a hand held out to him. Gaia-1 took it and crawled out of the tunnel, dusting bits of sediment and asteroid bits off his armor.

Gaia-1 gasped a little, staring out at the Shore from a view so rarely seen. Up above, cables cast thin shadows onto the hidden outcropping, and the vibrant expanse of blue and purple seemed even more vast than usual. In the distance, a ship came slowing to a stop on one of the asteroids of the Shore, he wasn't sure where at from their angle. It was beautiful.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?" Gaia-1 asked softly, glancing at Meeksis.

"Nama," Meeksis shook his head, and then let out a burbling little laugh. "View is good though, yes?"

The Exo grinned and nodded. "Very good. Hell, it's better than good, it's amazing! I love it! Thank you for showing it to me."

Meeksis chirped happily, face feeling icy.

His understanding of Guardian speak had increased and he was thankful for it. Gaia-1's voice was deep and jolly, and pleasant to his ears. No yelling. No harsh tones. And being thanked was nice too.

"Welcome. Now, to real secret place." Meeksis said, reaching to take Gaia-1's hand again and the Exo met him halfway.

He didn't question that hand-holding was a thing for them now.

Meeksis tugged Gaia-1 over to the nearby wall, where a crack in the asteroid sat, fat and probably as old as the Shore itself. _Maybe once upon a time, something crashed into it_ , Gaia-1 mused briefly. Thank the Traveler he'd changed his armor. The Dreg flattened his shapely form against the wall and slid through first. Gaia-1 went next and he cringed at the ear-piercing noise of metal against rock. He came out the other end of the crack, and gingerly touched the scrape that marred almost the exact center of his chest.

"This my secret place." Meeksis announced, spreading his two arms out like a bird taking flight. "My little home away from Skiff."

Gaia-1 looked up and his orange eyes grew two shades brighter.

Meeksis stood before him, mandibles and mouth tugging upwards in a smile, and behind him lay a little slice of room not unlike his own.

Patchwork tarps covered the floor and hung from hunks of rock that dared to stick out further than its brethren. Small, curved outcroppings in the wall of the rock made for a makeshift shelf covered in all manner of items: an unopened Engram that cast a bright yet gentle purple light in the room, an older datapad with a few data crystals sitting on its screen, a jewel not unlike the ones he'd seen in the Dreaming City, and an assortment of random bits and bobs of all shapes and colors. Some things looked Human, others Eliksni, he guessed or maybe Cabal. In one corner, strung up by ropes and cables was a hammock: patchwork tarp too, but bolstered by banners and cloths.

"You like, eia?" Meeksis' voice was expectant, and he searched the Exo's face for emotion.

He knew Eliksni expressions well. Humans less so, but he knew anger or happiness when he saw it on them, at least. But the metal people, the Exo, were a different story. Their faces didn't crinkle or scrunch up in the same way, and they didn't have mouths like an Eliksni or a human. But he saw Gaia-1's mouth light brighten, and his heart did that thing that left him feeling all quivery and happy.

"Your secret place is great! It reminds me of my quarters in the barracks back in the City. Except, yours might be a little neater." Gaia-1 nodded and laughed a little, then he reached and took hold of Meeksis' hands. His voice softened. "Thanks for showing your place. I really like it."

Meeksis' purred, raspy and high-pitched. Gaia-1's hands were warmth against his own cool ones, and the contrast of temperatures was pleasant and made him feel tingly all over.

"Welcome. Very welcome." Meeksis clicked. "Would like music? I have the... pad-thing, eia. Play songs on it. Some from club, some from other."

Gaia-1 nodded eagerly. "Yeah, I'd love some music."

"Good. I show you new songs. Other fav-or-ites listened to many, many times."

Meeksis pulled away so he could grab the old datapad off one of the outcrops. He flicked a bit of debris off it and sat the data crystals down carefully. He clicked to himself, picking through them. Finally he selected one and pushed it into the slot on the bottom end of the datapad. After turning it on and tapping through familiar screens he couldn't read, music filled his secret place. It was gentle and wistful, with a rhythmic, steady beat and some sort of string instrument. It reminded Gaia-1 of a peaceful, rainy day, surrounded by a field of wind-swept grass.

He'd like a day like that, with Meeksis there with him.


End file.
